The present invention relates generally to the field of waste disposal. It relates particularly to a portable medical waste treatment of medical waste prior to disposal.
Disposable medical items such as gowns, gloves, and surgical instruments such as syringes and scalpels are utilized in the normal course of business of hospitals. After these disposable medical items are used they are waste, and are often contaminated with microorganisms of infectious diseases. The disposal of such infected material waste, sometimes including pathological tissue, has been a problem in that such waste must be sterilized before it can be disposed of.
In the past, individual hospitals and medical centers have been provided with sterilization systems, such as autoclaves or incinerators, for sterilizing the medical waste. The medical waste can then be shredded and loaded into a disposal container for disposal in a landfill. Thus, each hospital or medical institution must have its own sterilizing unit, and the medical waste must be loaded and unloaded for each transfer between hospital and sterilizer unit, sterilizer unit and shredding facility, and shredding facility and landfill from the sterilizer unit, the shredding facility, and the landfill. Should the medical waste at the medical institution not be sterilized before pick-up, the hauler must deliver the waste to an incinerator or other sterilizing plant to dispose of the medical waste.
It would be advantageous to provide for a portable medical waste disposal system which picks up contaminated medical waste from the medical institution, shreds and sterilizes the medical waste, and then loads the shredded medical waste into a disposal container.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention pertains to a medical waste disposal system for loading, reducing, and sterilizing medical waste. The system includes a frame supporting a plurality of contiguous sidewalls and top walls to form a generally sealed containment chamber, at least one lift assembly having a lifter mounted to the frame on a track assembly, wherein the track assembly is configured for generally vertical motion of the lifter. The system also includes a hopper assembly mounted on the frame in the containment chamber near the lift assembly and in communication with a delta, or material, feeder, a first grinder in communication with the material feeder and generally disposed below the material feeder and the hopper assembly, a first conveyor assembly positioned to receive medical waste from the first grinder, and a second grinder in communication with the first conveyor assembly. The system further includes a second conveyor assembly positioned to receive medical waste from the second grinder, and an autoclave, mounted on the frame in the containment chamber and in communication with the second conveyor assembly. The autoclave includes a plurality of steam inlets, a waste inlet opening, and a waste outlet opening for discharging medical waste to a third conveyor assembly. The third conveyor assembly is positioned to receive medical waste from the autoclave and to convey the medical waste to a disposal container. The system further includes a steam generation plant mounted on the frame in the containment chamber and in communication with the steam inlets of the autoclave.
Another embodiment of the present invention pertains to a grinder disposed in a path of medical waste in a medical waste disposal plant. The grinder includes a grinding housing having opposed, parallel sides defining a grinding chamber with the grinding housing having an inlet and an outlet in communication with the grinding chamber and the path of medical waste. The grinder also includes a cutter assembly disposed in the grinding chamber, the cutter assembly including a shaft rotatably mounted to the sides of the grinding housing and connected to a means for rotation, a plurality of first cutter blades mounted on the shaft at axially spaced apart intervals and extending radially beyond a plurality of second cutter blades mounted on the shaft at spaced apart intervals between said first cutter blades. The grinder further includes a movable finger plate rotatably mounted to the sides of the grinding housing in the grinding chamber and positioned to allow the first and second cutter blades to move between a plurality of slots in the finger plate. The finger plate is connected to a means for movement toward and away from the first and second cutter blades and a transducer responsive to selected forces on the finger plate.
Another embodiment of the present invention pertains to a medical waste disposal system for loading, reducing, and sterilizing medical waste. The system includes a means for transporting the medical waste disposal system, a means for loading medical waste into the medical waste disposal system, and a means for grinding medical waste into a reduced volume of medical waste in communication with the means for loading. The system also includes a means for sterilizing medical waste in the medical waste disposal system, and a means for conveying medical waste through the medical waste disposal system between the means for grinding and the means for sterilizing.